CONTINUE DRUG COURTS

Programs Pay Off For N.C. Taxpayers As Well As Offenders

Ten years ago, Mecklenburg District Court Judge Phil Howerton and a group
of like-minded justice officials launched one of the most successful court
programs in memory. They cobbled together grants, local funding and some
state money for the Mecklenburg drug treatment court, which aims to help
alcoholics and drug abusers recover from their additions.

The program has been so successful that there are now 30 such adult, youth
and family treatment courts operating in North Carolina. For offenders who
can meet the program's requirements, the drug treatment courts offer a way
out of the costly, dehumanizing spiral of substance abuse that ruins lives
and costs taxpayers a bundle.

A 2001 assessment of the state's drug treatment courts found that just 18
percent of their graduates were rearrested, compared to 44 percent of those
who didn't go through the program. National studies suggest that every $1
spent in a drug treatment court program saves the jurisdiction $3 to $7.
When fewer offenders are put in jail or prison, taxpayers save money. It
costs an estimated $22,600 per year for each offender behind bars, compared
to about $4,000 for those in the drug treatment program. When offenders
stay out of prison and can earn a living and pay taxes, everyone benefits.

Yet every few years court officials find themselves fighting to renew
support for the program. This week in Raleigh, House Appropriations
Committee members are considering ways to balance the state budget. Once
again the drug treatment court programs are potential losers.

Local funding has helped keep drug treatment courts going for years. But at
a time when the federal government is shifting more responsibility for
program funding to local governments, state support becomes more critical.
What makes things especially difficult is that North Carolina simply
doesn't provide enough resources for its criminal justice system. Less than
3 percent of the state's annual budget goes to the court system. To help
make ends meet, court officials in Mecklenburg set up a nonprofit
organization, Justice Initiatives, to raise part of the funding needed to
keep courts functioning adequately, including the drug courts.

That's an admirable commitment, but essential courts programs should not be
forced to rely on the generosity of donors to do what is so clearly in
everyone's favor. Legislators should stop trying, as one local attorney put
it, to finance their courts on the cheap. They should examine the record
and create a sustainable way to fund North Carolina's drug treatment courts
for the long haul.